Water play toys are well known in the art and have been fabricated by practitioners of the toy arts for many years. Such toys typically employ a plurality of moving parts through which or upon which various water transfers such as spraying or shooting streams of water take place. The majority of such water play toys are intended for use outdoors and employ a source of water under pressure such as a conventional garden hose or the like. Often mechanical apparatus are driven by water flow from the hose through the toy to provide amusing and entertaining activities.
Other types of water play toys are suitable for operation indoors as well as outdoors or in areas such as a bathtub or the like. Such water play toys usually provide a closed system or water reservoir together with one or more pumps and other apparatus for pushing water through the toy and for returning the water to be collected in the reservoir. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,758,418 issued to Troppe sets forth a WHEELED PULL-TOY having a body supported upon a plurality of wheels configured to replicate a truck vehicle or the like. A windup motor power source is operatively coupled to a rotating umbrella-like spray device. A water reservoir situated within the truck cooperates with a hand-held resilient bulb coupled to the spray apparatus within the umbrella. As the user pulls the toy vehicle, the windup motor drives the umbrella through rotation and the user's squeezing and releasing of the hand-held bulb sprays water upwardly about the umbrella.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,785 issued to Stanley sets forth a WATER PLAY TOY WITH ELEVATABLE CLOWN PORTION having a base configured to replicate a clown's head and an interior fitting for receiving one end of a garden hose. The garden hose is coupled through the clown's head to a nozzle supported on top of the clown's head. A generally conical clown's hat is rested upon the top of the clown's head and receives the water spray to produce a raised and levitated hat as the water maintains the hat above the clown's head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,378 issued to Melin et al sets forth a WATER PLAY TOY having a cartoon-like figure which includes an internal hose fitting suitable for coupling to a garden hose and an upper discharge mechanism coupled to the water source. The discharge mechanism forms a convex surface having a plurality of apertures therein, each of which is coupled to a discharge tube having a random shape and length. Water drives through the coupling within the figure and outwardly in various directions from the tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,329 issued to Kubiatowicz sets forth a WATER JET TOY having a water reservoir coupled to a source of water under pressure such as a garden hose. Within the water reservoir an upwardly directed nozzle provides an upward jet of water which supports a buoyant ball in a raised hovering position above the toy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,081 issued to Sejnowski et al sets forth a WATER TOY having a basket for receiving a ball therein and a water mechanism for ejecting the ball from the basket. The water mechanism is operative in a first position for emitting a fine spray of water and in a second position for emitting an upwardly directed high pressure stream of water which ejects the ball from the basket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,111 issued to Kashimoto sets forth an ORNAMENTAL GAME WITH UNDERWATER MOVING MECHANISM having a transparent water tank supporting a plurality of moving neutrally buoyant articles within a water immersion. A bellows pump is operative by the user to provide a water jet into the tank which tends to raise some of the buoyant articles and allow them to descend slowly through the liquid among a plurality of targets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,540 issued to Yang sets forth a WAVE GENERATING AQUATIC TOY DEVICE having a water reservoir supported in a tiltable manner upon a base. The reservoir is filled with liquid and supports a plurality of floatable toys. Means are provided within the base for rocking the water reservoir to produce waves in the liquid which in turn bounce the buoyant articles.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,808 issued to Briese sets forth a DRINKING TUBE having a vertical pipe defining a closed end and having a piston supported within the closed end. A piston rod extends from the piston upwardly through a sealed aperture in the closed end and supports a figure such as a toy bird or the like. The pipe further supports an additional pipe communicating with the interior of the vertical pipe. When the piston is at the lowest point in its travel due to reduced or nonexistent water pressure within the vertical tube, the piston closes the diverting pipe. Once pressure is applied, however, the piston is raised and water then flows outwardly through the diverting pipe.
Thus while the foregoing prior art devices have improved the art, and in some instances enjoyed commercial success, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore improved, amusing and entertaining water play toys.